Open house: The Bayside Family YMCA will hold an open house Friday through Sunday. Among the activities visitors can choose from, a free chair massage will be given Friday from 5 to 7 p.m. or Saturday from 8 to 10 a.m. Visitors can also experience Reiki Friday from 3 to 5 p.m., participate in hoop-dancing class Saturday at 10 a.m. or register for fall programs any time throughout the weekend.
Families are encouraged to visit the new Family Center to observe the Prime Time program in action. This program offers structured activities that involve children in arts and crafts, sports, games and other forms of interactive play. There is also space for children to do homework or to have a snack. The Family Center will be open from 7:45 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and from 5 to 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday from 7:45 to 11:30 a.m.
Staff will be available for building tours and to provide information on the many opportunities for members at the Bayside Family YMCA. The building will be open Friday from 5:15 a.m. to 10 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday, from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.
During this open house weekend, the joiners fee will be waived for anyone who purchases a membership. This is a savings of $96. The YMCA offers a wide range of activities including yoga, Pilates, swim lessons, indoor cycling, family fitness and youth activities.
Young adult novelist to speak: The Barrington Public Library and Barrington Books will host young adult novelist Mark Peter Hughes, author of I am the Wallpaper and the upcoming Lemonade Mouth, Saturday at 1 p.m. at the library, 281 County Rd.
Hughes grew up in Barrington on New Meadow Road and graduated from Barrington High School in 1984. I am the Wallpaper was a finalist in the Delacorte Press Young Adult Novel Competition and is a BookSense Summer Pick for 2005.
During his visit, Hughes will discuss the writing process and book publishing, share his journey to becoming an author, answer questions, and sign books.
For more information on the author, visit markpeterhughes.com . For more information about this program, contact Bri Johnson, YA Librarian, at (401) 247-1920, ext. 310.
Global warming discussion: Roger Williams University's next Socrates Cafe, today, will focus on global warming and its threat to earth's climate. Scott Rutherford, assistant professor of environmental science will serve as moderator for the discussion, "Should we care about global warming?"
Concert: The Linden Place Fall Concert Series continues Friday with an ensemble of flutes of various sizes -- soprano, tenor, bass -- that will present a program in the historic Linden Place ballroom. This unusual group with its beautiful blended sound is under the direction of Debbie James, a teacher of flute in the East Bay area. The concert ballroom will start at 7:30 p.m. and will be followed by a wine reception to meet the artists. Tickets are $10, $7 for members of Linden Place and students with an ID. For more information, call the Linden Place office, (401) 253-0390.
Blue Star breakfast: The Veteran's Committee of the Bristol County Elks Lodge 1860 invites the families of military members who are deployed overseas to attend a breakfast and Blue Star Flag ceremony at the Lodge, located at the foot of Constitution Street, Oct. 29 from 9 to 11 a.m. At the breakfast, members of the committee will present families with a Blue Star flag to be displayed in their windows. Presentation of the flags is done in thanks for these families' sacrifice and patronage to the country.
The tradition of the Blue Star flag or banner dates to the World War I and 1917. The flag became a common sight in America's neighborhoods during the two world wars, when it was hung in the window of a home to show that a family member was serving in the armed forces. During the ceremony, families of deployed service members will be given a Blue Star flag to hang in their window until their family member or members return home.
The Lodge's Veteran's Committee also invites service men and women who have returned home from active duty to attend the ceremony and be honored and thanked by the lodge. These attendees will be given the Elks' "Serving Those Who Served" pin.Contact patti Baccus, (401) 253-0262, or e-mail pbaccusATcox.net as soon as possible if you know of someone deployed with the armed forces.Yard sale: The Bristol Republican Town Committee will hold a yard sale Saturday from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. at 859 Hope St. (just north of the Poppasquash Road intersection). Councilmen Mary Parella and Halsey Herreshoff along with Town Clerk Lou Cirillo and state Sen. David Bates will take part. All unsold items will be donated to local organizations. For more information call Naomi Carpenter, (401) 253-9067.
Municipal training class: The Aquidneck Island Planning Commission has changed the location for its new municipal training class, "Building Strong Teams to Promote Strong Communities" for Newport County boards, councils and commissions. The two-hour dinner meeting, originally scheduled tomorrow at 5:30 p.m. at the Atlantic Beach Club, has been relocated to The Royal Plaza Hotel, 425 East Main Rd.
The course offers specific strategies and techniques for setting goals within individual councils and commissions, promoting shared responsibility, assisting new appointees, and establishing effective lines of communication.
There is no charge for municipal officials, but reservations are required at the Aquidneck Island Planning Commission, (401) 845-9299 or trainingATaquidneckplanning.org. Members of nonmunicipal groups may attend for a fee of $20 per person if space is available.
Halloween magic show: Debbie O'Carroll will meet at Middletown Public Library, 700 West Main Rd., Thursday at 4 p.m. She will perform her "Trick or Treat Magic Show" for children 4- to 9-years-old. The program features non-scary stories, comedy and magic tricks with lots of audience participation.
Winter bird feeders and more:20 The Norman Bird Sanctuary, 583 Third Beach Rd., will offer a talk on the different types of bird feeders and foods available for birds during the winter months, Friday from 7 to 8 p.m. Participants will also learn more about the natural history of the local songbirds and birds of pray who visit their yard, including ways to help protect them.
Performance: Faustworks Mask Theatre, an engaging troupe of performers whose impact is based more on physical comedy, body language, and wonderfully inventive masks than on the spoken word, will hold a public performance Friday at 6:30 p.m. in the Hill Arts and Athletics Center at St. Michael's Country Day School, 180 Rhode Island Ave. Admission is free.
Founded in 1983, the Toronto-based group is a traveling theatrical company that has performed throughout the United States, Canada, Australia and Hong Kong. The actors, wearing a variety of masks in a variety of sizes and expressions, crawl about the stage, in their words, "acting out vignettes ranging from comic to poignant to bizarre in performances that expand the idea of the mask to include body language, makeup, and the many faces we all wear daily."
Film festival fundraiser: The 2005 Newport International Film Festival will hold its annual fall fundraiser Saturday from 5:30 to 8 p.m. at The Chanler on Cliff Walk, Memorial Boulevard.
Following in the Newport tradition of blending elegance, pleasure, and philanthropy, the fall fundraiser for the ninth annual Newport International Film Festival and its community outreach programs will include lavish auction items, attending celebrities, and delectable cuisine.
Celebrities and notables scheduled to attend will be Senator and Mrs. Claiborne Pell; Chuck Townsend, CEO of Conde Nast Publications; producer/director Michael Corrente; actress Nia Peeples; Steve Feinberg, director of Rhode Island Film and TV Office; and Vanity Fair editor-in-chief, Graydon Carter.
The live auction by Christie's begins promptly at 6:30 p.m. and advance reservations are needed for the 8:30 p.m. prix fixe dinner at the Spiced Pear by calling (401) 847-1300, ext. 253. Seating is limited for the dinner.
Tickets for the Newport International Film Festival Fall Fundraiser are $100 per person. Reserve in advance online newportfilmfestival.com or by calling (401) 846-9100.
Annual fundraiser: The Edward King House Senior Center, 35 King St., will hold its annual fundraising party Saturday from 5:30 to 8 p.m. The event will feature hors d'oeuvres from area restaurants, cocktails, music by Jean Graham and drawings for gift certificates.
All funds will go toward the current restoration of The Edward King House, which is listed as a National Historic Landmark. Tickets are $15 per person at the door. For more information, call (401) 846-7426.
Book festival: The Newport Public Library 2005 Book Festival will be held Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. This year the festival will feature six authors giving presentations about their work, and over 15 other authors on hand to sell and sign their books and meet with their reading public. Books by all the authors giving presentations will be available for purchase at the library through cooperation with Island Books in Middletown.
At 10 a.m. authors will begin gathering in the Spring Street lobby of the library, where book sales and signings will take place. Events in the library's auditorium begin at 11 a.m. with a talk by Mary Jane Begin, the children's book illustrator of R is for Rhode Island Red. At noon Kate Whouley of Cape Cod, author of Cottage for Sale-Must be Moved, will give her presentation. She will be followed by mystery writers Peter Abrahams at 1 p.m., and Jan Brogan at 2 p.m. Coauthors of Rhode Island: a Genial History, Paul Eno and Glenn Laxton, are scheduled to speak at 3 p.m. Book signings by these authors will follow each presentation.
Other authors taking part include, children's author Peter Mandel; Peter Pezzelli, who has just published his second novel, Every Sunday; Newporters Betty Pardee, Jeanne Archambault and Judie Porter; Jamestown resident Jan Whitford, librarian Kate Kulpa, author of a short story collection, Pleasant Drugs, and Kathy Fitzgerald and her husband Keith Stavely, authors of America's Founding Food: the Story of New England Cooking.
Wreath-laying ceremony: The Wm. R. "Rich" Higgins Detachment of the Marine Corps League will conduct a wreath-laying ceremony Saturday at 10 a.m. at the Marine Monument in Perrotti Park, America's Cup Avenue. The ceremony is dedicated to the memory of the 10 Rhode Island Marines (3 from Aquidneck Island) killed in action in Beirut, Lebanon and on the Island of Grenada in Oct. 1983. Marine Corps Maj. Christian Ellinger, a student at the Naval War College, will be the guest speaker.
Film screening: Award winning filmmaker Eugene Jarecki will show his 2005 Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Prize-winning film, Why We Fight, and hold a discussion with the audience afterward when he visits Salve Regina University this month.
Jarecki will show the film, an unflinching look at the anatomy of U.S. foreign policy both during the Cold War and up to present day Iraq, Sunday at 5 p.m. in the Bazarsky auditorium at O'Hare Academic Center on Salve Regina University's campus.
Jarecki's appearance and film screening is free. It is cosponsored by Salve's Pell Center for International Relations and Public Policy in cooperation with the Newport International Film Festival.
Walk to Remembers: Newport Hospital's Noreen Stonor Drexel Birthing Center will hold its annual Walk to Remember Sunday at 12:15 p.m. The one-mile walk begins and ends at Sachuest Beach in Middletown. The event honors families who have experienced loss through infant death or miscarriage.
The walk is dedicated to the nearly 900,000 American babies who die each year before birth, as newborns, or as a result of miscarriage or ectopic pregnancy.
The event is free, and no registration is necessary. For more information, call the Noreen Stonor Drexel Birthing Center at Newport Hospital, (401) 845-1110.
Health and stress workshop: Aquidneck Place, 125 Quaker Hill Lane, will host a health and stress workshop today with Herbert I. Curtis Jr. This workshop will educate participants on the symptoms of stress, how stress affects the body's overall health and what one can do to relieve stress so they can feel better and enjoy life more. A noon luncheon will follow. Seating is limited and reservations are needed by calling (401) 683-2075.
Beginner's Ttarot: Guest speaker Doris Ann Bridgehouse will speak on Beginner's Tarot tomorrow at 6:30 p.m. at Portsmouth Free Public Library, 2658 East Main Rd. Bridgehouse is a professional numerologist, counselor, workshop leader and teacher. She has specialized in numerology and metaphysical teachings for more than 30 years.
She will show participants how tarot cards have a richness and symbolism that describe the universal connection to all peoples. In this fun informative workshop, participants will learn how to interpret the suits, pictures and numbers of the tarot deck. Those planning to attend that have their own tarot card deck are asked to bring it along. Handouts will be provided.
This program is sponsored by the North Family Trust and Portsmouth Free Public Library and is free. Additional parking is available at BankNewport. Space is limited; call the library at (401) 683-9457 or stop by to register for the program.
Grange to meet: The Portsmouth Grange will meet tomorrow at 7:30 p.m. at the Multi-Purpose Center, 110 Bristol Ferry Rd. This meeting was originally scheduled for Oct. 6 but was postponed to the 20th. This will be a joint meeting with Nanaquaket Grange members. Ann Marie Watkinson will present a musical program.
Tasting in Portsmouth:20 The Portsmouth Free Public Library, East Main Road, will hold its sixth annual "Tasting in Portsmouth," Friday from 7 to 9 p.m. A variety of local restaurants, wineries and breweries will bring samples of a favorite or specialty item to showcase their establishment.
The library's ability to provide the variety of services and programs that have benefited the citizens of Portsmouth continues to be dependent on the generosity of the Town of Portsmouth and its citizens, grant foundations, and the Portsmouth business community. This event costs $10 per person with the proceeds going toward funding library services. Additional parking is available at BankNewport across from the library.
Fall Festival: The Women's Group of the Portsmouth United Methodist Church will hold its annual Fall Festival Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the church, 2732 East Main Rd. Crafts, baked goods, attic treasures, used books, jewelry, holiday items, plants and a silent auction are all part of this event. Hot soup and sandwiches will be available for purchase. For more information, call the church at (401) 683-4005.
Land Matters Walk and Talk: Tom Ardito, director of Policy and Communications for the Narragansett Bay Estuary Program, will lead a tour of the salt marsh restoration project under way at Town Pond Saturday. Participants will meet at 9 a.m. at the end of Bayview Road.
Town Pond is an area conserved by an Aquidneck Land Trust conservation easement. The project will restore the rich, natural salt marsh ecosystem that once existed on this site. The $3.5-million restoration is being accomplished through a public/private partnership among the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management, the Aquidneck Land Narragansett Bay Estuary Program, Aquidneck Land Trust, and a variety of other organizations.
The tour will be held rain or shine and space is limited. Those interested in participating are asked to contact Andy Arkway at aarkwayATailt.org by today. For more information, visit AquidneckLandTrust.org or call (401) 849-2799.
Ghost hunters: Rhode Island newsman Paul F. Eno, 35-year paranormal investigator who has appeared on the Discovery, History and Travel Channels, will speak at the Tiverton Community Center, 346 Judson St., tomorrow from 7 to 8 p.m. With him will be his son Benjamin, 13, who has recently joined in his father's ghost-hunting adventures. The program is sponsored by Tiverton Library Services.
The Enos will offer a hair-raising slide presentation on Paul Eno's most famous investigations from 1970 to the present, and he will sign copies of his most recent books on the paranormal, Faces at the Window (New River Press 1998) and Footsteps in the Attic (New River Press 2002). Copies of the books will be for sale.
Eno, who has been called "the most intelligent voice in paranormal research today," is in demand as a talk-show guest around the nation and is rapidly becoming known as "The Ghost Guru" because he draws far-reaching conclusions from his paranormal research. His next book, scheduled for release in the spring, is Turning Home: God, Ghosts and Human Destiny.
In-Sight to meet: The Bristol County Chapter of In-Sight will hold its monthly meeting tomorrow from 9:30 to 11 a.m. in the Youth Activity Room located in the lower level at the rear of the Warren Town Hall. All blind, visually impaired and interested persons are welcome. Call Fred Rounds, (401) 253-5577 or Al Finger, (401) 253-7176.
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